Tag Archives for Chicago

Back in Sweet Home Chicago

Last week, I was back home in Chicago. It was a quick visit, I spent a lot of time in Niles, since I was mostly there to see my parents and any other family that were available.

While in town, I was able to see a few friends as well. One friend, Anne Halston, lives in the north side neighborhood of Rogers Park. She took me to see some of the street art there. The first work is a very powerful paste up installation. The work is comprised of numerous small pieces of paper pasted to the wall. Each one has the name of a black person killed by the police. As you can see from the images, there are hundreds of pieces of paper.

The second set of images simply show the mural across the street from the first work. It is part of the Rogers Park street art mural series. Because I wanted to add the visual flavor of Chicago, I included the yellow concrete pillars of the underpass. It’s a colorful moment captured from an archetypical Chicago point of view.

It’s always good to be back in Sweet Home Chicago.

Barbara Kruger is the Best

Last year, when I was home for the holidays, I saw the remarkable Barbara Kruger exhibition “Thinking of You, I Mean Me, I Mean You,” at the Art Institute of Chicago. Barbara Kruger is one of my favorite artists, and absolutely one of my biggest artistic influences. I was so happy to see her exhibition, I bought our tickets months in advance. My wife Kelli, stepdaughter Grace and my Mom went to the exhibition with me. They were unfamiliar with her work but loved the exhibition too. All three were blown away. I can’t even describe how much this pleased me.

Surprise, I took a lot of pictures! I’ll share my favorites here in a series of photo galleries coming up next.

Vehicle – The Ides Of March

Artist as Rock & Roll Enthusiast (aka ARE) Post: 10

Hey, it’s the Ides of March. A one-hit wonder of a day! The hit of course being the murder of Julius Caesar. Therefore, it’s poetic symmetry that the band Ides Of March would be a true one-hit wonder.

Chicago band, the Ides Of March hit it big with their first single “Vehicle” which peaked at #2 in 1970. For a brief time this song was everywhere. It was a major hit. Tom Jones even sang it on his variety show. It has also even become a rock song regularly played by marching bands.

If you’re from Chicago as I am, you’ll certainly know this song. It’s on permanent rotation there.

 

Top 11 Tallest Skyscrapers in 2020 (United States Edition)

Most of the tallest skyscrapers being built today are in Eastern Asia and the Middle East. However, the birth of the skyscraper was in the United States. Specifically in Chicago, where they still believe in maintaining a skyline that is a beautiful as possible. Therefore, before recognizing the tallest in the world, I wanted to represent the United States. In 2020, the 11 tallest buildings in the United States will be:

1. One World Trade Center (Freedom Tower) – New York, NY: 1,776 ft. (541.3 m)
2. Willis Tower – Chicago, IL: 1,730 ft. (527.3 m)*
3. 225 W. 57th – New York, NY: 1,422 ft. (433.7 m)+
4. 432 Park Avenue – New York, NY: 1,398 ft. (426.1 m)
5. Trump International Hotel & Tower – Chicago, IL: 1,389 ft. (423.4 m)
6. 111 W. 57th – New York, NY: 1,350 ft. (411.5 m)+
7. 30 Hudson Yards – New York, NY: 1,257 ft. (383.0 m)
8. Empire State Building – New York, NY: 1,250 ft. (381.0 m)
9. Bank Of America Tower – New York, NY: 1,200 ft. (365.8 m)
10. Three World Trade Center – New York, NY: 1,171 ft. (357.0 m)
11. Aon Center – Chicago, IL: 1,136 ft. (346.3 m)

+ proposed

* the height of the Willis (Sears) Tower has been increased to include the antennas